All I truly want is have Toyota USA admit the fact that there are substantial complaints of mechanical DEFECT about their Automatic transmission.

Like most of you, when I drive my car, between the mileage of 35-45miles/hr a loud noise with vibration are coming from the front of the car and easily felt at the bottom of car, it can't be missed. However, once you accelerate pass 45 miles/hr the sound disappear. Toyota of Newburgh, NY did trouble shoot the problem and mentioned that the culprit is 'TORQUE CONVERTER" a must change! they said for the amount of $ 2,500 parts and labor, yeah like I have the money lying around, really. Toyota insist no problem with transmission, but if you inquire about it at your local Toyota dealers, they'll tell you that this is common problem and they deal with it all the time.

If Toyota wants to keep their consumers, they should listen to this problem because when accident happens and a life is lost due to this then it'll cost them more and worst, now they have to deal with family(ies) in ruins, hopefully this doesn't have to happen to anyone who owns this car.

I'm going to write to Toyota USA and see if they can cover the cost of repair or some type of assistance.

We bought this car back in 2006, after few months of using it, noticed that it hums/ vibrates when accelerating. had mechanic checked few time nothing really they found. you really have to drive it for a few distance.

friends are noticing it.

December 2015 brought this car for a transmission problem. Mechanic advised to replace with a used one for it is much cheaper than replacing with a new one or rebuilding.

Got it back however we had to bring back to mechanic, fluid is leaking pretty bad. Mechanic had to replace seal (2 seals) ended up buying the whole seal kit. Still leaking. Now we're at this point that we don't know what to do anymore with the problem. anyone can make a suggestions/recommendation?

thank you

Loud vibration happens consistently near 40mph when transmission upshifts and rpm drop to around 1000. The vibration can be felt through the passenger seat and is easily heard. There are numerous reports about this problem on RAV4World.com.

The service manual and the dealerships do not recommend servicing the transmission because they claim the transmission fluid is lifetime. Dealership said the fix was to replace the exhaust system for $2300. They did not think anything was wrong with the transmission... I had to investigate this problem on my own through RAV4World.com. I went back and insisted on a transmission fluid drain & fill for $100 and the vibration has improved (is not as bad). I am hoping that too much damage has not already been done. I will do another drain & fill next year.

It is absolutely absurd that the dealership is not aware of such a common problem. One way to diagnose this is to drive your vehicle in 3 instead of D until you reach over 45mph. The vibration will never occur. It's like the computer is performing the upshift too soon.

Loud droning / vehicle shuttering passing thru 40 mph while under light engine load, typically up a low grade. Noise not heard decelerating thru 40 mph to a stop. Shutter/vibration coming from rear seat area (primarily), but felt through the whole vehicle. Car has only 84,000 miles and driven very conservatively; garaged, treated with care, 100% dealer maintained. Dealer suspects a torque converter lockout problem which aligns with 40 mph; however, a secondary high frequency noise, more like a gurgling, is heard in 1st gear while starting forward motion. Dealer plan is to replace the transmission with a Toyota factory rebuilt unit. Initial cost estimate is $4,800, but very likely includes additional costs for unknowns. On a consumer website a problem reference was found that is similar in nature. It was stated the root cause of this problem could be a faulty engine control module (ECM)....faulty shifting limits...so replacing the transmission alone may not solve the problem and eventually lead to the same problem with the rebuilt trany. (Initial trans service is not until 100,000 miles) A verbal complaint to Toyota USA on 1/15/13 only resulted in an apology for the "inconvenience this may be causing me"; there is no Toyota support for such a problem. I plan to submit a written complaint today to Toyota USA and the dealer with details and supporting documents demanding financial retribution for such a premature failure of the transmission. This is obviously a design or manufacturing quality issue which would not exactly be a surprise knowing Toyota was the "king of recalls" in 2012.

Update from Mar 9, 2013: Brought car to a local transmission specialist based on recommendation from relatives and they do a lot of municipal equipment repairs. Torque converter was worn; transmission and drive train was fine. This shop has repaired several Rav 4's.....different model years, and both the 4-cyl and 6-cyl engines. Always the torque converter. No need to replace the entire transmission at a huge cost. New torque converter is higher level of quality, better materials, somewhat heavier duty, USA made. Opinion: OEM torque converter not sized or designed properly for the car.....so why put the same potentially defective designed parts back in the car only to have it fail once again in the future. Dealer through Toyota rep offered a 50/50 cost share, but that would have easily been $2500 or more. The transmission shop charged $1800 and I feel confident they did the work properly and solved the problem. We shall see, just got the job done yesterday.

Exact same problem as in April of '11 and dealership swears because "they fixed it in April" then this is clearly a brand new issue. Their diagnosis is replacement of transmission / torque converter assembly and drive shaft. there has been a hum and vibration at 40 mph/1500 rpm.

It's a Toyota and has an exception service record, per mfg requirements. Who would think at 103k miles the transmission is failing? Estimated cost of repair is $7k. Even if I come up with the $'s for the repair, sadly, I would never buy a Toyota again.